Brokerage
What a freight broker bond is and how you get one
You do not pay $75,000. You pay a premium, and what determines that premium is mostly your credit.
A freight broker bond is the $75,000 BMC-84 surety bond FMCSA requires before it grants your broker authority. You do not pay $75,000. You pay an annual premium of roughly 1% to 4% of that, priced mostly on your personal credit, and the surety files the bond electronically with FMCSA for you. Apply with three sureties, compare, then file.
The bond is not insurance for you. It protects carriers and shippers if you fail to pay them. If a claim gets paid, the surety comes after you for the full amount. A smaller number of brokers use a BMC-85 trust fund instead, which means actually parking $75,000 somewhere.
What it costs
You pay an annual premium, typically 1% to 4% of the bond amount.
| Credit profile | Typical annual premium |
|---|---|
| Excellent (700+) | $900 to $1,500 |
| Good (650 to 700) | $1,500 to $2,500 |
| Fair (600 to 650) | $2,500 to $4,000 |
| Poor (under 600) | $4,000+, often with collateral |
Same bond, same coverage, wildly different price. This is why shopping matters. Get quotes from three sureties before you commit, and ask whether they require collateral or a personal guarantee.
What it actually costs, worked
A real example. Credit score 670, no collateral required, three quotes pulled the same week.
| Surety | Annual premium | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| A | $2,400 | Personal guarantee, files same day |
| B | $1,950 | Personal guarantee, files in 48 hours |
| C | $1,700 | Personal guarantee plus $2,500 collateral held |
Quote B wins here, not C. The $250 saving on C is locked up as $2,500 of your working capital, which is money you need to pay carriers with. On a $75,000 bond the spread between the highest and lowest quote for the same coverage was $700, which is why three applications are worth the hour.
How to get one, in order
- Pull your personal credit first, because it sets the premium and tells you what to expect before anyone runs a hard inquiry
- Have your entity paperwork and your MC number from the OP-1 filing ready, since the bond is filed against that number
- Apply with three surety agencies that write BMC-84 bonds, same information to each, so the quotes are comparable
- Compare the premium, the collateral requirement, and the personal guarantee language, not just the headline price
- Pay the premium and confirm the surety files the BMC-84 electronically with FMCSA, then check your FMCSA record shows the bond on file
- Put the renewal date on a calendar with a thirty day warning the day you buy it
Underwriting is usually same day to a few days for clean credit. Files needing collateral take longer, so start the bond in parallel with the OP-1 rather than after it.
How a claim works
A carrier hauls your load and you do not pay them. They file a claim against your bond. The surety investigates. If the claim is valid, the surety pays the carrier and then bills you for every dollar plus costs.
Two consequences people miss. First, a paid claim usually means the surety will not renew you, and finding a new bond after a claim is expensive. Second, claims are public. Carriers check your bond status before they haul for you, and a history of claims means good carriers stop answering.
Why lapses are fatal
If your bond lapses, the surety notifies FMCSA and your authority gets revoked. Not suspended. Revoked. You refile, pay the $300 again, and wait out the process while your customers move their freight to someone else.
Set the renewal on a calendar with a thirty day warning. If you switch sureties, make sure the new bond is filed and effective before the old one cancels, with overlap, not a same-day handoff.
Bond versus trust fund
The BMC-85 trust requires you to deposit or secure the full $75,000 with a financial institution. It makes sense for an established brokerage with capital sitting idle, because you stop paying premiums.
For anyone starting out, it is the wrong choice. That $75,000 is far more useful as working capital covering carrier payments while you wait on shipper invoices.
Questions to ask a surety before you sign
- What is the premium, and is it fixed for the full year?
- Do you require collateral or a personal guarantee?
- How fast do you file the BMC-84 electronically with FMCSA?
- What is your renewal notice process?
- If my credit improves, will you re-rate me at renewal?
That last one is worth real money. Plenty of brokers keep paying a first-year premium in year three because nobody told them to ask.
Common questions
How do you get a freight broker bond?
Apply with surety agencies that write BMC-84 bonds, using your entity details and the MC number from your OP-1 filing. Compare at least three quotes on premium, collateral, and personal guarantee, pay the premium, then confirm the surety filed the bond electronically with FMCSA and that your FMCSA record shows it on file.
How much is a freight broker bond?
The bond amount is $75,000, but you pay an annual premium of roughly 1% to 4% of that. With strong credit expect $900 to $1,500 a year. With poor credit expect $4,000 or more, sometimes with a collateral requirement.
Do you get the freight broker bond money back?
There is nothing to get back on a BMC-84 bond. The premium is the cost of the surety guaranteeing your obligations. A BMC-85 trust fund is different, since that is your own money held in trust.
What happens if my freight broker bond lapses?
The surety notifies FMCSA and your operating authority gets revoked. You would have to refile the OP-1, pay the $300 fee again, and wait through the process. Always overlap a new bond with the old one rather than switching same-day.
Can I get a freight broker bond with bad credit?
Yes. Sureties write bonds across the credit spectrum, but the premium rises sharply and many will require collateral or a personal guarantee below roughly a 600 score.
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